Wizards of the Coast recently pushed through a mandatory update of the Wizards Event Reporter (WER) software that tournament organizers use to sanction tournaments and upload results. With it came a host of welcomed improvements and a few new headaches, most of which you’ve probably already worked through (hint: uninstall your old WER before downloading and installing the new version). However, the update brought with it a few extra hurdles for independent tournament organizers (TOs), including myself.
Having talked with online support twice and spent two hours over two days on the phone (and on hold) with Wizards customer service, I thought it might be useful to get this info out to other folks in the same spot, to save them having to listen to epic (?) fantasy music while waiting to talk to admittedly helpful and nice reps. I don’t expect Wizards to put up a FAQ anytime soon. Please keep in mind that the information below was accurate as of this morning, though it’s possible that by the time you read this, all is rosy. Anywho, so here it goes…
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU’RE AFFECTED BY THE PROBLEM?
01 – When you try to login to WER, does it return an error message saying you’ve entered an invalid DCI # or password?
or
02 – When you login to the WPN page, do you no longer see yourself recognized as a “Tournament Organizer,” but instead just a “Player?”
or
03 – When you try to sanction an event, are you only able to do with a week’s notice (no more same-day sanctioning or post-even sanctioning)? Please skip to “Problem 03.”
PROBLEMS 01 & 02:
Q: I’M NO LONGER A TO? WHAT HAPPENED?
A: A SHITLOAD OF SOFTWARE, DATABASE AND FORM BUGS!
Granted, the below is just what I’ve gathered from multiple Wizards reps, so some of it may be approximations of the truth, but it seems to make sense.
01 – When the WER update went live, it took a snapshot of the tournament organizers’ levels (Gateway, Core, Advanced, Premier) and store affiliations. There seemed to be an oversight or a bug that left independent organizers out of the snapshot. The main problem with this is that independent TOs are no longer linked to a venue in the system, and thus aren’t being recognized as TOs.
02 – The fix suggested by Wizards was to simply re-submit as a tournament organizer at this link, choosing the “I am already registered as a Wizards event organizer and would like to add an event location.” Unfortunately, the database and software upgrades they’ve been undergoing made it so that one couldn’t actually complete the form – it doesn’t recognize a user as having accepted the terms of service.
03 – With this in mind, I called my local representative to see if he could bypass the faulty form and just accept my venue request. Unfortunately, under the new system, the reps no longer have the power to manually accept TO venue requests through the press of a button.
Lets review: a database problem forces you to fill out a form which doesn’t work, so you to try to bypass the form by going to your rep, who, as of this week, now no longer has the ability to bypass forms. Hoo-boy, a real comedy of errors. So yeah, seems like independent TOs are without a way of getting their sanctioning powers back, right? Wrong.
PROBLEMS 01 & 02:
HOW DO I FIX THIS?
I would recommend that you try the following, in order to save yourself time.
01 – Try going to this link, choosing “I am already registered as a Wizards event organizer…” and filling out the form. If successful, you should hear back within 2-3 days that you are again a Tournament Organizer with the same history you had previously. If you cannot complete the form due to the bug…
02 – Bypass online support and the usual customer support, and call your local WPN Rep. Explain to them that you need them to file an incident report on your behalf to re-link you to your venue as the online form doesn’t work. This should happen within 2-3 days.
03 – Once this is done, check to see if you can sanction an event with less than a week’s notice. If you can, you’re set, if not, and you’re used to being able to do so, read on!
PROBLEM 03:
Q: WHERE’D ALL MY BENEFITS GO?
A: NOT A BUG! THEY’RE WAITING AT THE STORE…
01 – This is not a bug. Simply, the sweeping changes that were announced to the WPN months ago were only just implemented with this update. Now TO levels are actually determined by location – with only retail locations able to reach a status beyond Gateway. Even after the last update to the WPN, stripping Advanced independent TOs the ability to sanction pre-releases and FNMs, we were still able to sanction events day-of and post-event. No longer. If you are not affiliated with a retail location, then you have automatically been downgraded to Gateway status, even if you’ve been running events with the benefits of Core/Advanced/Premium status for months.
PROBLEM 03:
SO, HOW DO I FIX THIS?
01 – If sanctioning events day-of and post-event are important to you (they are to me), there really is only one solution: approach a local retail location and ask to be affiliated with them so that you can attain the same WPN Organizer level as them. The store is best off calling their WPN rep directly to avoid the ever-present form bugs.
It is important to note that being affiliated with a store doesn’t prevent you from holding your event outside the store at a third party location, so you can continue to hold your events as you have for the past few months, whether that means holding tournaments in a social club or a bar.
Anywho, I hope that’s helpful to at least a few of the independent TOs out there trying to survive in the face of bugs, hold music and lack of clear communication from Wizards of the Coast. Even if it ends with you calling your local WPN rep, I hope it saves you time in explaining the problems you’re facing. Stay strong, soldiers.